annoyedIt's never going to get through the Lords as it stands (insert rant over unelected second house), so can't we just get it over and done with and
I think now is the time.
57%? My arse.
In other ramblings:
I like the the ep 8 spoilers. Bit peeved at the Harmony bits, but not too worried. Love the sound of the rest of it though, we getting cool Spike again! I hope we get lots of glee from JM.
Is anyone else reminded of Rimmer's behaviour in the Red Dwarf ep Bodyswap though? Or is it just me?
LOL! Yep, Spike is doing the vampire equivalent of having mashed potatoes with a pint of cream and a full pound of butter.
I've half written a fic based on this. mashed potatoes with a pint of cream and a full pound of butter. - this would've been a great title for it, if I didn't already have one.
Or have I got it completely wrong?
I'm afraid I don't understand the point of fox hunting.
Neither do I.
Hunting foxes made sense when there were lots of them and they were a danger to livestock.
Well, apparently they still are, even though half are now in the towns. Can't farmers buy decent fencing? What danger are they to battery hens (a whole other issue - I'll spare you)?
But I've never understood the point of a bunch of aristocrats riding horses all over the countryside with packs upon packs of dogs
I'll admit I can see why this is fun. You start at the pub, have a nice drinkie (stirrup cup) and then go for a nice ride in the country in your best togs. They'll be a bit of galloping and jumping. You won't see the kill, because you'll be too far back and then you're back to the pub. It's really a social occasion, and that is at the heart of why these people will fight to protect their "sport". It's not a sport, don't get that confused.
The pro-hunting people will tell you that its a service to farmers, to control the fox population, that its employs thousands in the countryside and that it's a tradition back to god knows when.
What they won't tell you is that more foxes are killed on the roads, that very few jobs would be lost and that as vermin control it's next to useless.
What lies at the root of why all of this is so emotive is CLASS. The majority of people see hunting as cruel and aborrent. Hunters see their way of life under threat from "townies" who don't understand. Does that excuse them allowing their hounds to run onto and be killed on railway lines? To allow them to threaten people who don't want them on their land? To throw mangled carcasses over peoples fences? To blantantly ignore the law and dig up foxes that have gone to ground? To beat up protesters and sabotruers?
There are hunts that are notoriously violent and the Police won't lift a finger, and when they do they can't posecute because they can't find a neutral judge. This is an issue that goes to the core of English society because to ban it means opposing those in high (unelected) positions. The House of Commons, whom we elect, voted overwhelmingly for a ban. This was blocked by the House of Lords (unelected, hereditary peers and people who've bought titles ::ough::Jamie Lee Curtis::cough::), predictably as they're all hunt supporters. The country wants it gone, and it's blocked by a minority with a lot of power.
Sometimes you'd think that England is still feudal.
Thanks for baring with me.
Never, ever believed that we'd see any reform on the House of Lords, so the recent changes came as big surprise. People don't see that a labour government will always rule with one arm tried behind its back. Heard some shocking things about constituency boundaries being rigged in Tory favour etc when I was a Politics student. Shame I can't remember what they were now.