Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Haystack

Fox hunting is a cruel blood sport that should be banned forever , there are just as many chicken's killed by dog's and nearly all sheep are killed by dog's.There is no massive problem from fox's.

Haven't heard anything about all those hunting dog's and horse's that were going to be killed if there was a ban , also the mass unempolyment in the countryside.

ps a slight problem in the city's , but they do clear up a lot of waste food that would have been eated by rat's.

Chris

I have been onto Chess . com , yes its a very good free site , i have made a note of your username.

Ok Aldwick, cheers. Enjoy.

Cleggy has nothing to lose by having a debate with Farage, he might even repair some of the damage...cos he's good at presentation.

Millibandus, not so sure, but he obviously fancies his chances, and what has he got to lose?

Cameroon, well, he's fooked anyway. He wont be able to control the flow as he does in the set piece HoC debates, so will probably come across as a wooden talking head.

No wonder he don't want a debate.

Yep but Max he'l have one of those secret hidden bugs in his ear hole with Lynton Crosby telling him what to say and do, how to smile how to use his hands etc etc.

He's not too good at that even with the someone telling him what to do gf.

He seems to prefer the set piece "debates" where he has control.

No way will he want to walk into a casino type debate, cos Cleggy and Farage will tear him to pieces, even the Millibandus stands a good chance of making him look stupid.

It's a lose lose situation for Cameroon, so I can understand his reluctance.

But you will see his strings being pulled.

So, the unions also not paying their taxes, hypocrites.
2517

Ask Hays about not paying taxes?

I know Haystacks views on not paying taxes, and I disagree with him, but the unions have been banging the drum about companies failing to pay their taxes, like I said, hypocrites.
2517

The fox hunting bill was voted down twice by parliament. Blair has said that he regretted promising to pass the law in the election. To pass the fox hunting act into law he used the Parliament Act to force it through. This is a misuse of due process. The Parliament Act was introduced to force through important financial legislation similar to that needed at present in the US. It has only been used in a handful of situation even after it was amended in 1949 to widen its scope. The age of homosexual sex was pushed through with it. Pushing the Hunting with Dogs Act through in this way against the wishes of parliament is an abuse of power. The act should be repealed and if needed debated and voted on afresh. I do live in a city, but approve of hunting.

Haystack

The wish of the people was to ban it .

I see you have not answered the reason's i gave why it should be banned.

I see no reason to ban it. It is part of the traditional culture of the country. Plenty of people approve of it. The people who want to ban hunting are mainly city dwellers who don't want badger culls, want natural childbirth, ban nuclear weapons, stop fracking etc.

It is academic at present, partly as hunting still continues on private land and local law turns a blind eye. You can bet that with a good majority the law will be repealed.

Haystack

Badger culls have not been proved to work .

"It is part of the traditional culture of the country " so you would approve of bear baiting , dog fighting and cock fighting and badger baiting then ?

You forgot to mention pheasant shooting in that list Haystack! I have lived in both the city and the country. Wherever I live I find fox hunting completely barbaric. There is something grotesque about a pack of riders encouraging a pack of hounds to chase a fox and then enjoying the spectacle of watching it getting ripped to shreds.

Everywhere I have lived in a city foxes are a pest. They raid bins in the area and I have had soiled nappies left on the lawn. They often have bad infections of mange, which could pass to my dogs. They are just as much of a pest in the country.

I am afraid it is just a matter of personal opinion. Badger culling has yet to be proved good or bad and needs good trials. Pheasant shooting is fine and that includes deer, rabbits, hares and various game birds. I don't expect you to agree with me. I am quite happy for you to be opposed to hunting, but it will continue for many years to come.

There are tons of 'ins and outs' and 'pros and cons' about fox hunting:

The 'barbaric and negative aspects' to fox hunting comprise various elements, e.g.

Hunting the fox relentlessly until it ends up in a state of collapse.
Dogs pulling it to pieces after they've caught it.
Letting children watch this kind of stuff.
Letting children/people watch an animal being bloodily and noisily killed by dogs.
Watching celebratory rituals carried out by the Master of Hounds, such as 'blooding'.

The 'hunting scene', being land owners, horse owners, hedge and fence jumpers comprises lots of extremely affluent and often very influential people. Just like 'Births, Marriages and Deaths', it does allow them an excuse for a 'get together'. It also keeps lots of country people (ie. those who don't like living in towns and cities) in a job in all of the supporting services.

The fox, when caught and killed by a pack of hunting dogs, dies just about absolutely instantly = humanely.
A fox, albeit a mammal, is considered to be vermin.

I'm sorta pro-pugilistics and sorta pro-hunting, I suppose and I do recognise that mankind is a kinda barbaric species.

However, I am also an objectively minded kinda guy and I reckon I can see lots of the points of view from both sides.

I guess I'm 'live and let live' about it - except for vermin. :-)

Good post ExecLine. I try to be objective about the way humans treat animals, but I find it very difficult.

I have the picture of Hays being chased by a pack of foxes and shouting "I am enjoying this".








Interesting week to come.

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Foxes being chased until caught is pretty much an analogy of the animal kingdom. People do not rise up in complaint when hyenas chase a wilderbeast and tear it apart or a pack of lions chasing an animal until exhausted. Dogs chasing foxes is the same except the foxes are pests and regarded as vermin by farmers.

The wealthy hobby argument is nonsense. Many 'hunts' are just organised by farmers with local people. There are a few famous wealthy hunts as well. I see it mainly about townies being opposed to things they know nothing about and the chance for a bit of class warfare.

I am indifferent to the cruel aspects of hunts. Certainly hunting pheasants, rabbits, hares, deer are not cruel as death is instantaneous. In which case what is the argument against it?