I think I’m one of last remaining Pippa Middleton defenders, and even I needed a break from her after the wave of schadenfreude from her book’s terrible and unambiguous failure. The failure of Celebrate on every level – sales, buzz, promotion, and most importantly, CONTENT – was embarrassing and she should be hiding her face. Which she has – there were some photos of her entering and leaving the hospital where her sister was being treated for morning sickness, but other than that, Pippa hasn’t been doing much for a few months. Maybe it’s time for a new boyfriend? Somebody rich. Somebody… foreign, but not TOO foreign, you know? (Imagine that said in Dame Maggie Smith’s voice.) Well, Pippa has scored! Sort of. She was recently at some gigantic Belgian boar hunt, being hosted by Belgium’s richest man (who is old) and that man’s grandsons (who are Pippa’s age).
Disappointing sales of her debut book, Celebrate, have not made Pippa Middleton any less attractive to some of the world’s most eligible young men, it seems. The Duchess of Cambridge’s 29-year-old sister took part in a hunt organised by the grandsons of Belgium’s richest man, according to a local Belgian newspaper.
The hunt in Gerpinnes, south of Charleroi, took place in December and was organised by the two grandsons of Belgian billionaire Albert Frere, William, 27, and 28-year-old Cedric. The Frere family – who are akin to the royal family in their country – refused to comment about whether or not the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister was present, saying only ‘hunting is a private affair’.
But three sources in the hunting party confirmed Pippa’s presence, Belgian newspaper La Capital reported.
‘I shook her hand but at that moment I didn’t recognise her,’ said one. ‘Afterwards a friend teased me, saying, “what, you didn’t recognise Pippa?”.’
Another hunting party member said he didn’t realise Pippa was Kate’s sister because she introduced herself by her real name, Philippa.
The ‘mythical bottom’ was apparently disguised by a khaki tracksuit during the expedition. The Frere family name is well known in Belgium though its members keep a low profile. The family puts on several hunts a year, including the Gerpinnes hunt, which is organised by Albert Frere’s son Gerald and his two grandsons William and Cedric.
La Capital pointed out that the grandsons were ‘of the same generation as Middleton’ who is 29.
The 1 December hunting party was 20-strong and set out from the Bierlere forest near Gerpinnes, which extends over 200 hectares. Six boars and nine deer was killed.
Women in the Frere hunting parties normally shoot; they do not come along for the ride. Given Pippa’s jet-set lifestyle, the fact that she is hanging out with Belgium’s richest family ‘does not at the end of the day surprise anyone’, the newspaper commented. Frere senior is reported to be worth Euro 2.7 billion.
Is this Pippa’s “game”? Is this what you get if you’re the pushy little sister of the Duchess of Cambridge? The thing is… Pippa could have been a contender. Like, really. If she had cleaned up her act, literally and figuratively, and re-branded herself as Kate’s spunky, cute, stylish, hard-working little sister with a normal relationship with eyeliner, Pippa could have been something special. I thought she would go that way, but those Middleton genes gave a mind of their own, and the genes say “slather on the eyeliner, put on a cheap miniskirt and aim at the first wealthy and/or titled man who looks at you.” This was Kate’s method, but Kate had one thing Pippa does not have: patience. Pippa is not a patient girl. She wants everything right now and she doesn’t understand that it takes time to work her way into a family like that.
Also – bloodsport, etc. Did they eat the boar? I’d really like to know.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Let’s hope they ate that animal.
I was a Pips defender, too, but man she makes it hard. I doubt any aristocrat in Great Britain would have her at this point. On to the Euro-aristocracy, I guess.
Euro-aristocracy…a.k.a. “Euro-trash.”
**Edit** Um, I just realized after I hit the enter button that I may offend some of the many European fans of Celebitchy. Just wanted to say what I said above is just a JOKE, that’s all. I’m just kidding around. And after all….we Americans have plenty of equivalent garbage over here, like as in Kardashians.
no offense taken.. British Royal Family is, after all, of German origin :). They’re actually far less aristocratic than for ex. the Spencers (Diana’s family). I’m dying to see where Pippa ends up and if she manages to snag a rich and titled husband.
Funny. For me the British Royal Family is a exemple of Euro-trash. I mean, Prince Charlie aka tampax man and his mistress Camila, Prince Harry “Vegas Boy”, the Duchess of Cambridge and her topless photos, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson multiple scandals, and others that I don’t remember now. If you want to analize properly , just the Queen is “Scandal-Free”.
The British Royal Family isn’t Monegasque type, but this doesn’t mean they are all good.
Ditties! The Pipster has blown it with the true British blue bloods . She is getting older and will have to settle for some Euro-Kardashian or perhaps Dodi Fayed equivalent.
@Kimbob,
I am European and you didn’t offend me but British royals are example of nothing. Also, Waity and Wills are good for gossip but no much else…The queen is immortal and Charles go after…
Having said that, let’s go back to gossip
I am suprised the Middletons haven’t figured out a way to get rid of some of those folks standing in the way of the Waity Katy and her heir. I mean with their life span Waity won’t be on the throne until she is in her 80’s and her poor baby will have to do the same. What’s the use in scheming if you won’t see the reward for another 80 years. I am just kidding too by the way.
shes always butting her way into high society.she only goes out with rich men because she got famous stern.
She is british version of Lindsay Lohan.
I’m no Pippa fan but that seems harsh.
Maybe the British version of Taylor Swift other than she doesn’t sing, write songs, or date teenagers (yet).
So maybe not. British version of Paris Hilton, who wants to be all that and is past her prime.
I don’t get why this would be a big deal. So she went on a hunting trip with a bunch of other people. I do that sometimes, too, and I’m not a social climber nor a rich husband hunter.’The ‘mythical bottom’ was apparently disguised by a khaki tracksuit during the expedition.’ Spare me. I feel like we’re scraping the barrel here, Pippa-news-wise.
Oh, by the way, re: ‘Did they eat the boar? I’d really like to know’: you cannot eat a boar you just shot, you have to deep freeze it first to kill parasites that the animal may have carried. But I’m sure they had a good meal. The eating and wine drinking are always the best parts of hunting trips- I speak from experience.
I realize this comment will probably be met with a load of ‘bloodsport!’ and ‘murder!’ replies, so let’s just say beforehand: hunters are no barbarians. In my humble opinion, killing an animal during a hunting trip and eating it (a few weeks) afterwards is far better than buying/eating meat from a supermarket. Also: hunting is not just about shooting and killing. I’ve been on plenty of hunting trips where we did not catch anything. It’s also an excuse to be outside for a couple of hours, get out and enjoy nature.
@Cherry — Bravo! I felt the same way when I read about the trip. Pippa likes to hunt and is apparently good at it. The trip was back in December and it got reported in the Belgian press, then picked up by the Daily Mail, which realized they had a great article to stir up lots of controversy (blood sports! rich men! etc.) So she wasn’t courting publicity.
People who hate blood sports don’t seem to realize that the habitat for for these animals has been preserved primarily because people like to hunt. And if the animals were not culled, they would overpopulate and starve – and destroy the habitat in the process – read up on what happens when too many deer prevent forests from regenerating.
The animals live far freer lives than those who wind up wrapped in plastic in the supermarket.
Yeah. I don’t have a problem with hunting per se but I do hate the fox hunt, which I find quite cruel. Living in Africa, I also hate ‘canned hunting’ of non-edible game (such as lion).
Years ago, I announced to my children that I was going vegetarian and if they wanted to eat meat they had to agree to visit an abattoir (slaughter house in the US?) to see how what they were eating got to the table. I eventually relented on the grossing them out for life part but they are hyper-conscious of the fact that I am hyper-conscious of where the meat I serve (rarely) comes from.
The fresh tuna and lobster that they catch regularly with their diving and spearfishing Dad? Now that I have no problems with. Same principle as hunting.
Mich: I agree with you. I’m veg too (and I hAven’t been to an abbatoir … read enough to know I’d faint dead away at the door).
I agree that killing an animal on a hunt (not fox hunt) is much more humane than that, with the caveat that it’s not a canned hunt. So many people go to a field where the animals are penned in and cannot escape. If you want to call it “sport”, then give the animals a chance.
Mich, that’s how i became a vegetarian.
It is tradition in my grandparents’ tribe to show off the live animal you are about to eat.
I was seriously traumatised when i realised that cute daisy [or any other cute animal] that i had spent entire morning petting and loving was now on my plate.
couldn’t/wouldn’t touch it.
on a different note, it’s funny to me when i read all these justifications for hunting eg the animals would super multiply and starve to death when it is us humans who have taken away their living grounds, squeezed them into a tiny, uninhabitable space so that natural order can’t possibly take care of the problem.
Uganda, where my parents are from, is a natural wild life reserve. the entire country is teaming with the most amazing wildlife, and no hunting. at least of the organised kind, and the animals aren’t over running the landscape.
LAK: Your animal was Daisy and mine was Russell the pig. My friend’s family had him and I’d go visit him only to find him on my plate one night I was over for dinner. Couldn’t eat him.
@ LAK
You have hinted that your family was from Africa before but never said they were from The Pearl of Africa!
Years ago, I did quite a lot of work with the Wildlife Authority on a mountain gorilla project and fell completely in love the place. I’ve collected a book-full of great African stories since moving to the continent 13 years ago but the most endearing and funniest all happened in Uganda 🙂 And don’t get me started incredible Indian restaurant I found in Kampala…
Bluhare – let’s take a moment for Daisy and Russell. RIP
@Mich – Aren’t Gorillas amazing?
The funny thing is that they aren’t native to Uganda. They migrated across the boarder from Rwanda and Congo where there were being hunted/poached and have made Uganda their home.
Uganda is amazing. I am always struck by how beautiful it is when i visit. Don’t get me started on the food. It’s the only thing i truly miss because my parents always shop at the African/indian/Ugandan markets here in London. i try to do the same when i have the time.
I have no problem with hunting. My DH hunted deer with bows and arrows, and people who do this take the sport seriously. I respect people who hunt their own food– I’ll take this over people who have no awareness over where their cow comes from any day.
That said, Pippa is a twit.
Hunting for the well off is nothing but a blood sport. It’s about the kill and the ritual around it, not about the eating. Please.
Of course they do it for fun, but the animals killed don’t go to waste- they are eaten. Very few working class hunters are starving either- they do it for fun as well.
There should be a picture of this chick besides the dictionary defination of “Gold digger”
if she manages to marry one of the guys then she would finally be better off from her sister. She will have all the wealth, freedom, connections, houses and no worries in the world unlike her sister,I think this is her best option and she will do well to keep a low profile in odder to marry into this particular family. I still want her to do well, as written in the article she is doing exactly what Kate was doing minus the patience, they are both cut from the same cloth but Kate’s title and ring has somehow granted her a sainthood. She will be the Middleton girl who married the best if she gets one of grandson and I think she will be the star in her family and maybe they will stop worshipping William in favour of the new more rich , connected and useful son in law.
No, William will always be the star. He was the big catch. They like the spotlight too much. They like the faux royal status and perks. They like that they 4 times have violated copyright laws and not been sued. They like they can sell William and Kate related cheap party pieces.
But Pippa will have married better in things that matter. Her life will be much more relax and her husband will treat her much better. Even the grandson of a billionaire probably isn’t as entitled as someone raised as the golden prince, future king, savior of the monarchy who had his mom stolen from him tragically young. She will be happier and the press won’t be on her constantly.
Does anyone know if Pippa is still an employee at Table Talk? I think I read she worked there a little bit as well as her working at her parents company a little too. Those mini jobs can in no way be enough to support her wardrobe and lavish apartment or her lifestyle but that’s another story. I like Pippa. She doesn’t seem to hide her true social climbing ambitions like Kate does. The press doesn’t quite cover that up like they did with her sis either but she’s likeable, seems harmless so I think she’s alright.
I don’t think she works for Table Talk anymore but rather for their sister company instead.
The Middletons do seem to live far beyond their means. The inheritance-which was used for school fees-and income from Party Pieces could hardly support their social-climbing lifestyle. To setup his cupcake business, James had help from Uncle Gary (who is a lot richer!!) which makes me think it was hypocritical of Carole to throw him under the bus when the press found out he’s a drug dealer.
Anaya
in addition to what you said I must add that she is better at social climbing and making connections then Kate. She has forged her own independent relationships with the most upper aristocrat s independent of her relationship with her bf , unlike Kate whose life and position solely depends on William. She on the other hand do have a somewhat independent life then her sister.
Totally agree. Pippa will be fine. She’s blazing her own trail through trial and error, but never losing sight of her goal. Not to marry well, but to be socially powerful and financially comfortable.
I feel Kate is so dependent on William that when (not if, but when) they divorce she may be the mother of the future ruler, but will have nothing. All will be lost and she will have learned no skills to be independent. Pippa may be learning now to give herself a safety net later in life.
Either way, she will be well off. Good for her.
Why do we have to look at this ugly woman?
If you don’t want to look at her then don’t click on her story. I an not her fab but coming to a gossip site and reading an article on a girl just to call her ugly is not very nice at all and reflects poorly on you. If she doesn’t fits with your idea of beauty then don’t look at her, no body is forcing you to but she can’t really help the way she looks. There are millions of things to criticise about her but calling someone ugly is a very ugly thing to say and reflects badly on the person making those remarks.
Pippa got a ridiculous payment for her pathetic bood and sadly she doesn’t have to give it back. Her parents bought her the flat she lives in and probably help her out with her clothes. You would surprised how much you get for free when your royal or connected to the family. Pippa has ALWAYS dated super wealthy men she wants money and a lifestyle. May need to be careful though she has gone through a number of wealthy guys in the UK there must be a reason they don’t bite.
Agree DanaG. Kate might not be able to get freebies any more, but you can bet Carole and Pips take what they can get. Wonder if they ask for three and “gift” one to Kate sometimes?
I am curious: how does this business of getting free stuff from designers actually work? I always imagine that even midlisy celebrities live in the Luxury Lounge, but there must be a pecking order.
Big stars are usually approached by companies who will not only give them free stuff but pay for them to wear it, $100,000 is the going rate for someone like JLo or Anne Hathaway to wear a piece of Cartier or Chopard jewelery to the oscars.
The smaller fish usually work through a stylist, who then works it out with the companies/designers, a published photograph is usually all the company requires to start dishing out the free goods.
Sometimes the very small designers will just send someone with a strong internet presence or photo profile free goods in the hope they will wear them.
These freebies are often sold anonymously on ebay by the celebrities reps or sometimes they are donated for charity auctions or ‘re-gifted’ to friends.
I too have believed Pippa and Carole receive lots of free merchandise but who are the givers?
I may have finally figured out one of their donors. I think Modala gives both P & C free handbags. Both of them carried the bags at the unveiling of Kate’s new portrait this week.
I veer back and forth on my opinion of her. I suspect she’s totally harmless and pleasant but the press print such a stream of pointless and dull articles about her that I can’t help but find her massively irritating
if this is a private, quiet family then Pippa doesn’t stand a chance right? Would she be considered an embarrassment?
I’ve now officially lost respect for Pippa. Yes, I know she’s from England and bloodsports are tradition, but even Diana broke from such tradition & voiced her dislike of such (bloodsports).
I guess little Pippa is singly focused, albeit impatient, & I suppose she doesn’t have the constitution to buck the system, or maybe she’s into bloodsports….I’m a bit surprised and put off, to be honest.
However, I may be in the minority here…I don’t know, but I can think of a million other ways if I were wealthy & wanted to “entertain” friends. I mean, saying, “Oh, let’s have a get-together and go stalk and kill innocent animals…yeah, that sounds like a GREAT idea.” No, that’s not me.
Why can’t they just throw a skeet-shooting party? Oh, I get it, because there’s no fun in not killing an innocent animal.
I dont think shes genuinely interested with the activity esp with the boar or deers. She went there with the aim to hunt a wealthy man.
Actually she IS interested in shooting, hunting and fishing. She picked it up as a pastime during her time at Edinburgh University when she got in with the “Castle Crew” (people like George Percy and her ex JJ Jardine Paterson) and spent her weekends with her friends visiting each others’ estates and having shooting parties. There are lots of pictures of Pippa, dressed in tweeds at such parties. She is apparently a good shot and also good at fly fishing.
Not saying she is not also interested in rich men, but she is not faking her interest in the hunt. Also you can’t dine on skeets (both venison and boar are very tasty – and healthy). Are not the animals we eat everyday which are raised on factory farms innocent too? They have far more miserable lives than the deer and the boar running through the woods.
@Just me – I can be sanctimonious about the issue of hunting/shooting/fishing because i have been a life long vegetarian. Partly because i don’t like smell/taste/texture of animal flesh/products BUT also in protest at how these animals are kept.
And seeing that i have barely been sick* my entire life, i am a walking good result of a vegetarian diet.
*the few times i have been sick were self inflicted injuries as ooposed to general health problems eg rough and tumble of being a kid.
@LAK – ok you can be sanctimonious – 🙂
I have eaten meat all my life and I have never been sick (and long may that last I pray)- as did my grandmother who lived to over 100. I have eaten venison and wild boar and pheasant – all of which have been shot and they taste just fine. I also love vegetables, fruit, grains – and just about every food imaginable! And I’m very glad that I can!
Diana never publicly voiced her dislike of blood sports. Not ever. In fact, she was puzzled as to why she was always portrayed in the press as being anti-blood sport, because although in later years she did not hunt herself, she was from a family of hunters and she understood it.
In fact, she met Charles for the first time as a semi-adult (not counting the times she saw him when she was a child) when he was dating her sister and they all came down to Althorp on a shoot – which she participated in.
From a PR perspective, she was *very* careful not to ever be photographed with a gun in her hand, or on a royal family hunt. She understood her fans.
In the later years of her marriage and after her divorce, she abandoned the country life and country pursuits altogether. Throughout her lif she was never a big fan of the hunt – she hated riding, for one thing – but she came from that background and she wasn’t anti blood-sport – although I bet it didn’t bother her that many people thought she was.
The source for this information is Tina Brown’s book – which was very well researched.
She has the MOST terrible taste in clothes!. I mean, right? Hideous dresses shoes, bags… Things don’t match, don’t flatter her figure… and she has so many outfits. You’d think with so many clothes, she’d hit on something flattering once in a while (a stopped clock, and all that), but nope. She’s not as naturally good looking as Kate, and she’s doing herself no favours with her attire. But then, maybe it is all free stuff and she can’t be so choosy.
That’s really a question of taste, you know. I think she looks adorable, I really like her style.
well, the tastemakers AKA Vogue have pronounced her style as DOA.
here is an excerpt from the recent Katepedia article
“…….(Kate’s) all but jettisoned that odd mid-thigh length she and Pippa uniquely loved and which make her outfits look as though something has accidentally been missed off”
Now i don’t blindly follow the dictats of vogue, but British vogue isn’t edgy or cool. they tend to favour middle of the road-bland designers, but look at the last picture. she looks good until you get to the brown booties. Why?Why? Why? They do not go with that outfit. They completely ruin the look.
Red Snapper – I agree completely and think the same thing about Waity. It’s like they cannot accept their body shape (short legs, long torso) and also don’t seem to be able to accept professional help (otherwise, I have to believe their eyeliner obsession would have been stopped years ago).
It’s really puzzling to me because, obviously, they have the means to get some help from experts.
Waity’s legs aren’t all that either.
I hate the hunting sport as entertainment for the rich, If you live in the woods and you’re hungry then it’s a different story, but it seems that for this wanna-be royal it’s perfectly normal leisure time to shoot innocent animals. Gross.
Her unfortunate relationship with eyeliner may stem from the mythical bottom. It’s similar to those who possess a spirited elbow seem to enter into co-dependent relationships with ill-fitting footwear. It’s such a sad cycle.
+1
Legend has it that only the holder of the royal hairpiece can possess the buttons of patience.
Uptrading takes time Pippa. You need to have patience like your sister. I like Pippa but she needs to go away for awhile. She needs to make herself scarce, and stay outta the news or nobody will ever have a good opinion of her.
Pippa’s perpetually going to be labeled the “fun party girl” sister and that’s just not the label that hooks a wealthy aristocrat. Especially when the aforementioned party girl is rapidly approaching the 30 year mark and looks to be at least 5 years older than that.
I only pity Pippa that her sisters scandals force her to keep a low profile and despite having ni ither firnedships, kate still won’t make her lady in waiting. She’s rendered useless without her sister.
Pippa’s going to strike gold one of these days, she’s a very determined girl who will finally land on some little ‘upper class twit’ (to quote Monty Python) and hustle herself into a convenient marriage. She’s just having fun right now.
I totally agree. Someone will take her in. Marriage for her will probably happen at around 33 – 35. Although she went to school with aristos, she needs “time” to really become a “fixed” piece in their set.
It would also help if she got a artsy, PR type job or the type of job that that set would find “edgy”, acceptable or cool.
He will probably have more money than “title” but will be accepted within that set.
I don’t know why you defended her in the first place. She is unappealing in every way possible. The one time she didn’t look like a total disaster was at the royal wedding, with her ass of lies. Since then she has looked terrible on a regular basis. Her outfits always look cheap and unflattering. She has no discernible talents (see her crap book) and is overall just as much of a leach as waity. I am seriously unimpressed.
+1
Yes, agreed, she’s a horrible person for not wearing the right clothes and writing a bad book. Let’s stone her. 😉
I’m not a Pippa apologist by a long shot, but I don’t really understand all of the Pippa hate either. For the most part, most of the paparazzi shots seem to be of her walking on the street, dressed conservatively… and she’s not handing out interviews and sound bites to every person that takes her picture. She’s single in her 20s, comes from a wealthy family (regardless of where the money came from) and she’s hanging out with other similar people. I don’t see what the big deal is.
On one photo she’s sporting a pinkie ring. Is it true that the Middletons ordered themselves pinkie rings with a coat of arms to appear more aristocratic? I think I’ve heard a story like that a while back.
They did when they got their coat of arms. I think everyone but Kate wears one.
And they flash them now as much as Kate flashes her ring of doom.
Question, y’all: why is this woman considered so attractive? She’s not ugly but she’s no ravishing beauty either. Pippa seems like the kind of girl guys at my college go for because she’s nonthreatening and conventional. Nothing about her stands out as particularly interesting. If I’m being negative and ragging on her… yeeah, I really dislike her family and their social climbing.
And yes, the schadenfreude of seeing her not become hugely successful was delicious.
ITA pippa could have gotten everything she wanted if she had just gone the subtle route instead of behaving like a crazed, title-hunting moneygrubber. She is an embarrassment to her family and especially her sister, who played her hand masterfully.
“Six boars and nine deer WAS killed.”
That’s some quality journalism right there.
Yuh, uh-huh.
You guys she looks exactly like David Carradine. Like I always forget about it and then new pics of her are posted and I am like “wow that looks like David Carradine, oh yeah…its that woman.”
Can’t unsee!! Hilarious!!!
That entire last paragraph in a nutshell.
Although I still kinda like her. She’s still more interesting than her sister.
Ok, that’s not saying much but still…
@LAK – so what would you do – depopulate Belgium? Have shooting parties which hunt Belgians? It has been highly populated for centuries now. One of the main reasons there are still some preserves of wildlife is because rich people like to hunt and have preserved the habitat for wildlife. Same thing is true in Britain for that matter.
The wild boar and deer now have no natural predators in places like Belgium, and yes their populations do get out of control.
In my area of the United States, the deer and bear populations need to be culled to preserve the habitat they have. I guess all the people could just die off and that would work of course! 🙂
As i said in my answer to @Mich, my parent’s country of origin is Uganda. A country teeming with wildlife of all kinds, and no hunting. There is no population crisis of the animal or human kind.
At the end of the day, this is a man made problem where the animals were deliberately culled into smaller and smaller areas which is/was not their natural habitat and their natural mutual predators hunted to extinction and now y’all up in arms about overpopulation of both kinds.
It requires a better solution than the organised hunt variety.
ps:- Animals eg Gorillas have migrated to Uganda because they are not hunted and are left to get on with their lives unmolested in this barbaric manner. Any so-called hunting that happens is by poachers who are severely punished.
@Just me – just wanted to add that ultimately, it would seem that it’s all due to tradition and culture. You come from a culture that hunt/shoots/fishes and as a result have formed an opinion based on that, and can’t see that animals can co-exist with humans without being hunted to extinction.
I come from the opposite culture where despite the abundance of edible wild animals, a tradition of hunting never developed. There is a tradition of fishing, but again, not to extinction level. Uganda is a natural breadbasket because of it’s geography. The land supports humans and animals perfectly. very rarely do they attack each other. even during the civil war years, the land managed to sustain everyone. no famines of the animal or human kind!!!
I suppose what needs to happen is a solution that supports a happy medium between our two extreme ends of the spectrum.
Well I do believe that animals can coexist with humans without being hunted to extinction. None of the animals I am referring to are endangered – quite the opposite. I suppose you mean we should encourage the predators to resume their place in the habitat – bring back wolves and bears etc. to Europe (to Belgium?) Then I guess the people should do – what exactly? In order to have sustainable habitats for large predators you would need to clear a lot of people off the land as well as have a good deal of agricultural land return to forest(which would make it a bit hard on vegetarians and domesticated animals). What man has done in places like Europe and the United States too is to take the place of the animal predators (since man has been a predator for one heck of a long time anyway)
I’m glad you have had such a happy experience of a sort of “Garden of Eden” in Uganda. However short of a major calamity, which would kill off the European population, I can’t see it working in Europe. There’s always the Black Death of course!
But we will always disagree I can see that – you are certainly entitled to your opinions which are based as you say on your own experiences.
Just me – I am not trying to paint Uganda as some sort of garden of Eden where the animals and humans have never had a negative mutual experience.
The point i am making is that killing animals isn’t always the solution especially when humans are the ones who have created the problem in the first place.
You have countries in Asia where they have had to re-enforce areas for the animals because humans are encroaching on their territory. Not as wild life parks or nature reserves although the idea touches on similar ethos. But the humans and the animals interact even though the animals are wild. Their solution isn’t to kill the animals so the humans can live.
The solution isn’t always to kill the animals and make way for human progress and population.
Just Me said: In my area of the United States, the deer and bear populations need to be culled to preserve the habitat they have. I guess all the people could just die off and that would work of course!
That’s the issue. Their habitat is smaller as we have expanded ours. They aren’t infringing on us, we are infringing on them. And I’m as guilty as the next person. We used to see deer around here all the time, now hardly at all. Although it is nice not to hear the police shooting one that just got hit by a car.
Things are a bit complicated when it comes to deer. Here is an interesting story
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/15/137192604/what-does-more-deer-mean-for-forests
she was quite beautiful in the live video, visiting with children…it was posted awhile back here.
i remember being surprised-so perhaps still photos don’t do her justice.
I think in person, she’s beautiful, not just attractive, if that video is any indication?
Pippa, unlike Kate, has quite the spark. She’s lively, engaging and good humoured.
I think Kate has spent so long being careful of the people around her that she lost that spark and vitality.
I agree that on video Pippa is the more attractive sister.
Okay I might get yelled at but I generally find people’s passion towards these animal a little ridiculous given how much suffering human beings are going through. I don’t really feel that passionately towards the suffering of animals and frankly find people donating money to all these animal charities a waste when that money can be used to feed human beings. My loyalty belongs to my own species and I don’t really feel that strongly against hunting , I don’t wear fur or leather or hunt myself but I don’t support groups like PETA spending so much time energy and money on animals while there is famine in Africa. Save human beings before animals.
This is going to make me sound callous but the famine in Africa thing is a political problem.It’s in the politicians’ interest to maintain the status quo of these famines. All the famine drives go straight into the politicians pockets.
…but you are right about PETA. they go too far.
I get that famine is a political problem in a lot of countries but we can’t argue that there is a worldwide problem of hunger and poverty and in the face of this crisis I get irritated when people get so worked up about how an animal is being treated. Guess what there are millions of human beings who get even worse treatment then animals and yet people just accept that there always be poverty at some part of world. Forget about Africa there are plenty of people in your own country woo need your compassion and understanding rather then animals. I work with a human rights and child abuse charities and get so frustrated when people donate their money to animal rights group etc. there are a lot of living human beings who can need your support then animals, IMO I just value human suffering more then animals.
LAK/Angelic: Besides the political, isn’t the other issue water? As in not enough?
It is water too, but again something the politicians have a hand in.
For most of Eastern/Central africa, it’s a cyclical environmental problem brought on by the various wars.
It’s policy to practise what is called the scotch earth policy when attacking a village/area.
That means you don’t just attack a village and kill the inhabitants, you burn everything, including the surrounding vegetation to the ground. The earth takes awhile to right itself. And in the meantime, no vegetation, means any rain leeches the soil and with no vegetation protection from the sun creates a dry environment with no chance of rain clouds -> no rain -> drought -> famine. it’s an endless cycle perpetuated every few years with seeming no end.
In west Africa, the problem seems to be an issue with oil. Many local oil rich communities have been moved off their lands so the oil can be extracted. Unfortunately, they are moved to areas with little water or hope of sustaining life and they don’t get any oil money.
The biggest problem of course is that many of the countries that do this, are in the drier areas of Africa, so their policies only serve to expand the desert more.
Most of the aid that is sent to these places ends up in the politicians’ pockets so they aren’t interested in correcting this problem.
Angelic: The famine is not a world wide problem, in fact food production across the world is higher than population growth due to the rise of technology. This is the Anti-Malthusian model.
However due to keeping the cost of food fixed, many countries practice the ‘dumping’ method or pay farmers NOT to overproduce as it will drive food prices lower which in turn will harm the markets.
The only region where food production is not keeping up with the population growth is sub-saharan Africa. Due to political problems/civil wars or simply overfarming the arable land. An introduction of beneficial farming methods or a similar revolution to the green revolution which China and South-East Asia would be greatly beneficial. As well as dismantling the conflict/aid economy.
To be honest, world hunger is more than anything a man made problem. To simply say ‘let’s just focus on hunger’ would not eliminate the problem as the problems have arisen from deep-rooted structure (once more the whole dumping concept and keeping food prices high enough) as well as the food crisis in sub-saharan countries are due to a host of problems that we cannot even fathom. It is not simply ‘let’s just go give them x amount of food and everyone’s happy’. In fact through this way you might be contributing to the conflict economy and developing countries’ dependency.
As for water, water is very much a political tool in Sub-saharan africa and the Middle East.
I could never yell at you, Angelic! But I do think that humans are just another sentient being, albeit with more intelligence. I think there’s enough room to help all beings, human and non human.
Thanx bluehare for not yelling at me as my experience with passionate animal lovers haven’t been pleasant to say the least. As far as enough room is considered,I wish that would be the situation but that is not the reality. There is not enough enough room to help both and that’s why we still have problems of poverty and hunger widespread. I just value human above animals and hence a human life is more valuable to me then animals who will probably spilt me into two parts eat me as breakfast. I have a more productive two way relationship with fellow humans, hence I choose then above any sort of animals.
@Angelic – i would never yell at you either.
I wouldn’t call myself a cuddly animal lover although i don’t get people who keep snakes as pet as an example.
However, i do find that animals tend to attack only when threatened. Except possibly cheaters. They’d attack for the fun of it.
I think you do make a very good point about humans but it isn’t animals making humans miserable. it’s other humans.
BTW i don’t advocate the death sentence in any capacity, even for the most vile human. i do however believe in jail with hard labour. Make them really think about what they did, whilst breaking rocks with their hands!!!!
Angelic, that’s my experience with passionate carnivores as well. I just don’t like torturing any living creature (human and non human). Whether they want to eat me for breakfast or not! 🙂
LAK
I never said it’s animals that hurt humans,I was just giving an example that a human will treat me better then an animal so I pick them. I actually disagree with you on death sentence , I support them. I believe there are some people who deserve to die and there death will make this world a better place like Osama, Gaddafi, Assad etc. I don’t know whether you read it or not but a recent gang rape in India caused wide spread protest where the rapist mutilated the victim’s body after raping her,I am so glad to know that India have d death sentence and they will most probably will be given that. I value human life above all but there are some humans that don’t deserved to be called humans or even animals because they offend animals by their behaviour, so I support death sentence. My biggest problem with regular life sentence is that it’s not really for life, if a person is required to be in prison till the day he or she dies then maybe I will vote against death sentence but not before that.
Angelic – There is always a sliver of doubt with death sentence. You can’t bring the person back if that sliver turns into proper proof of a miscarriage of justice.
I also feel, if you kill someone, where is the punishment? Are they sorry? are they remorseful? Do they truly understand what they did? not just to the victim but the victim’s entire community? Death isn’t punishment. no lessons are learnt. it certainly isn’t a deterrent. And if a person knows the worst that can happen to them is death, do you really think they will care the pain they inflict on another human or deter them?
Unless those rapists are going to suffer a traitors death ie being hang, drawn and quartered, what punishment can a bullet through the head or even a hanging do to them or make them show any remorse for what they did?
Osama and gaddafi were prepared to die. They welcomed death because they thought it would make them martyrs. Now think of Saif Gadaffi. he also wanted a martyrs death but is instead languishing in some libyan hellhole thinking about the consenquences of his actions. I bet he is sorry alright. More sorry as the months and years go by.
What about the psychopaths that are simply not capable of being sorry even with all the time in the world? They will just run their twisted games on inmates and CO’s and eventually be subjected to solitary confinement which is arguable torture because they just inflict physical and psychological damage and nothing will change that.
For anyone that either reads a lot about the Royals or has kept up with them through the years: Are the Middletons really cashing in on their connections? Or does it just seem that way because the press are obsessed with them? I’m not too familiiar with past Royal in-laws so I”m not sure if other families have been in the spotlight as the Carol and the gang.
In-laws have always cashed in their royal connections, but the Middletons have taken it to a new level and they are more obvious about it.
I think they were more subtle before the wedding because it wasn’t locked down. As soon as the engagement was announced, they were off and running in a more obvious way.
I think you’ll find why she is so disliked here is because of her ,and to a lesser extent her parents unashamed cashing In. She/ they are after all no more than the relatives of a woman who has married someone famous. On the back of that simple fact they’ve made a fortune. Her book, which explained to people, amongst other things, how to make ice cubes ( I kid you not) gave her an upfront royalty of $600k, theres plenty of other opportunities coming her way too, working for Fox in the US as a commentator on the Royals . She’s never had a regular job and seems to lead a shallow, vapid life moving from one party to another on the prowl for a super wealthy husband. Mum and Dad have just moved into a £4.85m country mansion. All this wealth generated by Kate’s marriage . No other Royal in-laws have ever taken advantage like this . And plenty of people here feel their rapacious accumulation of undeserved wealth is grubby, cheap, unseemly as well as harmful to the Royal Family. Not difficult to see why she’ s so despised.
I think there are a lot of Royal in-laws who have taken advantage, although maybe not in this (or last) century!!
anyone who married into the royal family would have “cashed-in”. Up until Diana the media protected them so we never knew about it. Today, nothing is secret so we now know far too much about every aspect of their lives.
I’m sorry but I don’t believe that to be true Carolyn. The Middleton’s are firmly middle class. you could perhaps make a case of Sophie Countess of Wessex using her position to feather her nest, but she was always discreet, her parents were/ are beyond reproach . Sarah Ferguson came from a family who moved & socialised within the Royal Court, Sarah only got greedy after her divorce. Anyway, neither of these girls ever had a sibling who unashamedly milked their position . Sorry, but it’s simple as old money versus new money, the old monied families know how to behave, new money Middleton’s have no such breeding.
Damned with faint praise. Marvellous.
This is random but something I’ve noticed in paparazzi pictures of Kate (before she got married to William) and Pippa: English taxi cabs. The seats seem to be super low and the back seats face each other right? It always seems to create an awkward position for girls wearing short dresses because the dresses ride up super high. I could be totally wrong but that has always been my impression from the angles of the pictures (which could be deceptive for all I know)
Yes, random and weird things I notice…
When I saw the post title, I thought hunting party meant an event in which women hook up with rich and titled dudes, not and actual hunt in which there is real killing. Then again, probably both “hunts” occurred.
She certainly is one hustler.. I don’t see her image being anything much positive, like said, she could’ve made herself something special, but now she just comes of as tired, exhausted, cheap and tacky hustler trying to gold dig her way knowing all along that she will never become a princess.
Pippa won’t marry well. Men in her target market (ie. rich, social about town chaps) have fun with girls like Pippa. They don’t marry them. Hasn’t she realised this?
Very wealthy Belgian families never want to be in the spotlight. They are very much interested in remaining unknown.
It’s totally different to the US or UK where people flaunt their wealth more and people are interested in the daily life of these people. So it seems VERY unlikely that pops Frere would let one if his grandsons marry Pippa Middleton of all people. She would attract too much unwanted attention. There are WAY better catches in Europe than that woman.