Guardian Readers

[Northwest Smith]

It's hard to tell; are Guardian readers are getting more satirical or just drifting to the extreme far left

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/14/white-tailed-eagles

stevetyphoon

14 Jun 2010, 11:32AM

All I hear is how farmers are concerned that the eagles will take their lambs. The next all I hear is how little the farmers get for their lambs at market. The farmers are never happy. The farmers have destroyed our habitats and are responsible for the disappearance of many of our native species. The farmers have obviously been successful in limiting the 'right to roam' in England. The get off my land mentality is still prevalent in England. That is not the case in Scotland. The farmers receive millions of pounds of tax payers money in subsidies and still all they do is complain. They still set traps and poison protected birds but still they are rarely prosecuted.

It is a shame that this scheme is being scrapped. The sight of one of these birds is truly awe inspiring.

davidsouthafrican

14 Jun 2010, 2:09PM

farming is often a euphamism for environmental terrorism, and the conversion of biodiversity into money, lets face it

Chronos

14 Jun 2010, 4:02PM

Bloody farmers. Considering the relatively small economic value of agriculture in this country, there needs to be a more balanced approach to temper the disproportionate influence the industry is allowed to have. The absurdity of the foot and mouth crisis was the most extreme with the economic impact on the rest of society (particularly tourism) being far larger than the claimed benefit to agriculture of all the closures and travel restrictions. Itsimply wasn't worth the effort to protect the industry that much.

As for the guy claiming the eagles would frighten his livestock - can't he just give his pigs hats so they can't see what's above them?

Equalityforall

14 Jun 2010, 4:20PM

When there is proof that farmers make a massive contribution to developing species protection and improvements to our countryside for the benefit of all then they may be more listened to, As it stands, they have lax planning control, build monstrosities in the countryside - breeze block/asbestos constructions etc, and exert undue influence upon our nation's wildlife by campaigns such as this.

Much of our worst architecture is to be found in the countryside, ruining what are otherwise truly beautiful aspects of the UK. Take a look when you're out at the newer farm buildings, see how many fields have been cleared, and thousands of miles of hedgerows lost, and this impacts upon our remaining wildlife as well as how the greater population can get pleasure from our heritage.

So many farmers are such poor managers of this valuable asset, and it truly is a pity. I hear their concerns about this eagle, but they are short on credibility and don't have anything other than their profits in mind.

[Guest DissipatedYouthIsValuable]

I'm just going to put on my eagleskin galoshes, and take a look at the Dorset devastation.

[noddage]

QUOTE: As for the guy claiming the eagles would frighten his livestock - can't he just give his pigs hats so they can't see what's above them?

This is one of the funniest things I have read for ages. What sort of hats should they provide the pigs with?

[SarahBell]

QUOTE: As for the guy claiming the eagles would frighten his livestock - can't he just give his pigs hats so they can't see what's above them?

This is one of the funniest things I have read for ages. What sort of hats should they provide the pigs with?

pork pie hats?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pork_pie_hat

[Guest happy?]

It's hard to tell; are Guardian readers are getting more satirical or just drifting to the extreme far left

http://www.guardian....e-tailed-eagles

Certainly part of the price you pay for over-exposure to House Price Crash is the loss of ability to detect a tongue-in-cheek remark. It seems the dull literalism and unthinking/knee-jerk postings from some of the more intellectually-challenged posters here can have a long-term effect on one's reading abilities - it may be to do with their capacity to drive every thought from an interesting idea into drivel flogged to its illogical conclusion with the certainty and compulsion of someone bordering on mental illness.

My particular favourite was the suggestion that pigs wear wide-brimmed hats.

[noddage]

Certainly part of the price you pay for over-exposure to House Price Crash is the loss of ability to detect a tongue-in-cheek remark. It seems the dull literalism and unthinking/knee-jerk postings from some of the more intellectually-challenged posters here can have a long-term effect on one's reading abilities - it may be to do with their capacity to drive every thought from an interesting idea into drivel flogged to its illogical conclusion with the certainty and compulsion of someone bordering on mental illness.

My particular favourite was the suggestion that pigs wear wide-brimmed hats.

Wow! You must be, like, really clever to use all those long words and stuff!

EDIT: You patronising git. If a man can't laugh at the idea of pigs wearing hats without being accused of being 'intellectually-challenged' and mired in 'dull literalism' then the world is a much darker place than I ever imagined. I don't care if the Guardian commenter was being ironic (which I doubt, from the context of the rest of the post) but it's a pig. In a hat. A pig wearing a hat. To protect it from the fear of eagles. Does finding that amusing suggest that I'm 'bordering on mental illness'? And if porcine millinary is 'an interesting idea', in what way did my response cause it to be 'flogged to to its illogical conclusion'? Git.

[Riedquat]

Did someone really believe this nonsense "Considering the relatively small economic value of agriculture in this country, there needs to be a more balanced approach to temper the disproportionate influence the industry is allowed to have"? Last time I looked making food was more important than making an economic contribution.

[RichB]

Take a look when you're out at the newer farm buildings, see how many fields have been cleared, and thousands of miles of hedgerows lost, and this impacts upon our remaining wildlife as well as how the greater population can get pleasure from our heritage.

I'm curious as to how this chap reckons the hedgerows got there in the first place...